Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-12-23


reawakened his desire for his friend and he
began TO call for him by name As the
sound of his voice died away, he was aware
of the greatness of the silence that environed
him. But for the twittering of the sparrows
and the crunching of his own feet upon the
frozen snow, the whole MINDLESS world of
air hung over him entianced. and the still
ness weighed upon his mind with horror of
solitude
Still calling at intervals, but now with n
moderated voice, he made the hasty circuit
of the garden, and finding neither man nor
trace of man in all its evergreen coverts
turned at last to the house About the house
the silence seemed to deepen strangely The
door, indeed, stood open as before. but the
windows were still suffered, the chimneys
breathed no stain into the bright air, there
sounded abroad none of that low stir perhaps
audible rather to the ear of the spirit than to
the ear of the flesh by which house an
nounccs and betrays its human dodgers. And
yet Alan must be there-Afan locked in
drunken slumbers, forgetful of the return of
the day, of the holy season, and of the friend
whom he had so coldly received and was now
so churlishly neglecting. Johns disgust re-
doubled at the thought; but hunger was be-
ginning to grow stronger than repulsion, and
as step to breakfast, if nothing else he
must find and arouse his sleeper.
He made the circuit of the bedroom quar-
ters. All, until he came to Alan's chamber,
were locked from without, and bore the
marks of prolonged dsuse But Alan's was
room in commission filled with clothes,
knickknacks, letters, books, and the conven-
fences of a solitary man. The fire had been
lighted; but it had long ago burned out, and
the ashes were stone cold. The bed had been
made, but it had not been slept in.
Worse and worse, then; Alan must have
fallen where he sat, and now sprawled brut-
ishly, no doubt, upon the dining room floor
The dining room was n very long apart
ment, and was reached through passage, SO
that John, upon his entrance, brought but
little light with him, and must move toward
the windows with spread arms, cropping and
knocking on the furniture. Suddenly he
tr-ipped and fell his length over PROSTATE
body. II was what he had looked for, yet it
shocked him, and he marveled that so rough
an impact should not have kicked groan
out of the drunkard Men had killed them
selves ere now in such excuses, a dreary and
degraded end that made John shudder What
if Alan were deadi There would be Christ
mas dayl
By this John had his hand upon the shut
again the blessed face Of the day. Even by
that light the room had Uncomfortable air.
The chairs were scattered and one had been
overthrow; the table cloth, laid as if for
dinner, was twitched upon one side, and
some of the dishes had fallen to the floor.
Behind the table lay the drunkard, still I'M
aroused only one foot visible 10 John.
But now that light was in the room the
worst seemed over; it was a disgusting bust
ness, but not more than disgustng and it
was with no great apprehension that John
proceeded to make the circuit of the table
his last comparatively tranquil moment for
that day. Nosooner had he turned the corner,
no sooner had his eyes alighted on the body,
than he gave a smothered, breathless cry,
and fed out Of the room and out of the house.
1t was not Alan who lay there, but a man
well up in years, of stern countenance and
iron gray locks; and it was no drunkard, for
the body lay in Il black pool of blood, and the
open eyes stared upon the ceiling.
To and fro walked John before the door
I The extreme sharpness OF the air acted on his
nerves like an astringent and braced them
swiftly. Presently, he not relaxing in his
disordered walk, tho images began to come
clearer and stay longer in his fancy and
next the power Of thought came back to him,
and the horror and danger of his situation
rooted him to the ground
He grasped his forehead, and staring on
one spot Of gravel, pieccd together what he
knew and what he suspected. Alan had
murdered some one; possibly 'that man
against whom the butler chained the door in
Regents Terrace; possibly another; some one
at least; a human soul, whom it was death to
Stay and whose blood lay spilled upon The
In 90 10 81,
drinking in the passage, of his unwllingness
20 welcome John, of his strange behavior and
bewildored words; this was why he had start
ol at and halped upon tho name of murder
This was why he had stood and hearkenod, or
sat and covered his eyes, in the black night
Aud now he was gone, now he had basely
fed; and to all his porpleXities and dangers
John stood heir
Let me thinE-iet me think" he said
aloud, impatiently, even pleadingly, as if to
s0rIO morcilOaS interrupter. In the turmoil
OF his wit; thousand hints and hopes and
threats and terrors dining continuously in
his ears, he was like one plunged in the hub
bub of a crowd How was he to remember
he who had not q thought to spare-that he
was himself the author as well as the thea
tire, Of so much confusionl But in the hours
of trial the junto of mans nature is dissolved
and anarchy succeeds.
1t was plain he must stay no longer where
he was for here was new judicial error in
the very making 1t was not so plain where
he must go, for the old judicial error, vague
as q cloud, appeared TO fill the habtable
world; whatever it might be, it watched for
him, full grown, in Edinburgh; it must have
had its birth in San Francisco; it stood
guard, no doubt, like dragon, at the bank
where he should cash his credit; and though
there were doubtless many other places, who
should say in which of them it was not am
bushedl No, he could not tell where he was
to go; he must not lose time on these insolu,
bilities, Let him go back to the beginning.
1t was plain he must stay no longer where he
was 1t was plain, too, that he must not flee
as he was, for he could not carry his port
manteau, and to fec and leave it was to
plunge deeper in the mire He must go, leave
the house unguarded, find cab and return
return after Gn absencef Had he courage for
| that
And just then he spied q stain about a